Islamic Iran hold nationwide rallies to mark 1979 US embassy takeover

Iranians are holding massive rallies across the country to mark the 36th anniversary of the 1979 takeover of the US embassy in the capital, Tehran.

Each year, demonstrators gather outside the building of the former US embassy, also known as the “Den of Espionage,” and chant slogans against the United States.

People take to the streets in other cities across the country as well to mark the event.

November 4, which falls on 13th day of the Iranian calendar month, Aban (October 23-November 21), is also known as the Student Day in Iran, marking National Day of Fight against Global Arrogance.

Thirty six years ago on this day, a group of Iranian university students took over the US embassy, which they believed had turned into a center of espionage aimed at overthrowing the Islamic Republic in Iran following the country’s Islamic Revolution earlier in 1979.

Documents found at the compound later corroborated claims by revolutionary students that the US was using its Tehran embassy to hatch plots for the overthrow of the nascent Islamic establishment in Iran.

Fifty-two Americans from the embassy were held for 444 days until January 20, 1981.

Founder of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Rouhollah Khomeini later hailed the event as “a second revolution” with a greater significance than the original revolution of the Iranian nation.